As said in my first review of this Italian restaurant, I would be back to give it a second shot. This time, I went for lunch and the first thing that caught my eye was the Gnocchi alla Norcina (Gnocchi with Porcini Mushrooms, Italian Sausage, Cream and Pecorino). I absolutely love gnocchi and what better accompaniment than cream sauce!
Surprisingly, for a lunch period, they were really quiet - seriously, I was the only customer at the time.
See? No one! (I also can't believe my phone was able to take quite a sharp image!)
Customer service was good as per usual and the waitress at the time was extremely attentive (albeit the fact that I was the only one there, her attention skills were over 9000).
Not too long after, my food arrived!
This time, the dish went well - it had all the elements of what I perceive cream sauce based pasta should taste! The picky side of me would have preferred chunkier mushroom slices and wayy bigger portions of the Italian sausage as I could hardly find that many pieces. It was tasty nonetheless.
BUT.
Yes, there is a huge BUT.
I did not think anything could have went wrong this time, BUT it did.
I was eating very slowly (which is very unlikely of me, but I must admit, I was hungover), and noticed a hard, thin bit sticking out from an angle in the sauce. Initially, I thought it was a herb they've used but it looked way harder than any herb I knew of (rosemary or thyme) and did not recall any of those flavours in the sauce.
So, I picked it up.
Guess what it was? It was a centimetre long piece from the metal scourers you use to scrub your kitchen utensils!!!! T_T
The reason as to why I gave the waitress attention skills of over 9000, was literally the fact that she noticed something was up when I stared at it for less than 5 seconds and rushed over (not even enough time to take a sneaky photo). She then ran to the kitchen and then ran back to profusely apologise.
I said it was fine, as I was hungover and wanted to eat my meal in peace. I did end up eating all of it (as disgusting as it may sound now, but I don't find it as gross as finding someone's hair or bug in my meal) and I was also testing as to whether they'd give me a discount as an apology.
I finished, and paid (gnocchi was $22AUD and the Peach Iced Tea $5) $27AUD in total. By the looks of it, the manager came up to process the payment. I said the meal was good, but there was NO acknowledgement of the mistake they have made (it was also the manager/person in-charge) that did also notice the piece of metal when the waitress went behind the bar).
Like seriously, if it was a restaurant I was managing, I would have been so ashamed that I would have given a 20% off my meal total. I wasn't even a bitch about it until now, as being the "goodie" customer didn't bring any sort of justice. Maybe, it's a lesson that I should have been one of those grumbly customers who would put them in their place.
If I was a child and didn't know better, or if I was eating and did not pay attention and bit into that, or even worse, swallow it!
Sorry, but I don't think I'll be returning as a paying customer. The food is good but not good enough for the somewhat expensive prices charged (seriously? $5AUD for a bottle of iced tea?), as I am more than willing to travel to Vapiano's in the city for great seafood pasta at a lower cost.
I was hoping the second visit would have changed my opinion completely, but guess now it also brought down the service standards.
- Presentation: 2.5/5 (Plain)
- Food/Taste: 3/5 (Okay, but nothing impressive again)
- Service: 2/5 (The actual waitress was attentive and was great at what she did (still over 9000! However, whom I assume is the manager, failed).
- Monetary value: 1.5/5 (You can find other cheaper places for better quality pasta)
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